On the sidelines of a recent speech by the undersigned, in his capacity as an economic historian, which took place at the Anteo cinema in Milan, for the presentation of the splendid and touching documentary entitled “Fertilia istriana” by Cristina Mantis, written by Francesca Angeleri and Daniela Piu, I would like to highlight some important passages that gave life to this experience of a village “revitalized” by the presence of a significant group of Julian-Dalmatian exiles. To be precise, these are two central moments that form the basis of the “new life” of what would soon become the “Fertilia of the Julians”, after having been, in the 1920s and 1930s, the centre of fascist land reclamation. The first date to remember is January 1948, when the “Arena di Pola” came out with an emblematic title, full of hope and prospects for a people, the Julian-Dalmatian people, who were experiencing, at the same time, the atrocities of the foibe, the drama of the Exodus and the harsh and shameful reality of the refugee camps.  To be precise, it is the back, on the first page, with the heading “Constitution of the Julian entity for Sardinia”. Essentially, a work camp was opened for the exiles, "in an environment very similar to their reality". This was possible thanks to the establishment of a Promotion Committee, with the representation of various interests and, above all, those of workers and refugees. To be precise, the members of this committee were two appointed by the government, to whom were added the president of the Autonomous Institute for Public Housing of Venice (for the real estate issue) and some technicians including De Brti, chief of staff of Saragat (President of the Council).  The promoting committee, together with the assembly of participants, composed of refugees. This committee had set, as essential points, the development of the fishermen's activity and the establishment of a cooperative with serious intentions and concrete action plans. In the same important article, reference was also made to the essential aid and interventions of private industrialists with the support of the government. An intervention that could have been implemented with an incisive action by the committee to be formed among the Julians who emigrated to America, supported by Don Luigi Sturzo, and with the implementation of the reconstruction of the industries of the exiles in the Gorizia area (of which, unfortunately, nothing came to fruition due to the high interest rates imposed by the banks and whose financing, instead, would serve, with the approval of the De Gasperi governments of the time, to the industrialization of Trentino). The establishment, on paper, of the committee was followed, in practice, by the so-called “Plan of the Istrian Fishermen and Shipowners Group” which expressed the desire of 11 of the 17 Julian fishing vessels to transfer their organization from Venice to Fertilia for fishing. The group then presented the request to the government for a contribution towards the large costs of transfer and initial installation, with high insurance premiums for the vessels.  The executive, for its part, had immediately shown itself in favour. In this way the government contribution would have allowed, as actually happened, the redemption of the "Sardinian Body for the colonization of the buildings of Fertilia" which passed to the "Giulian Body for Sardinia" in view of a hoped-for compensation "equal to the value of the properties left by the Istrians in the ceded territories" (compensation which was never paid). It is also important to note how Fertilia's initiative was hoped for and supported by the Istrian Church in exile, in the person of the unforgettable bishop of Rovinj, Msgr. Radossi (who would later become a professor of Rieti) who, in a beautiful

Christmas letter addressed to the exiles wrote with hope of the "end of the practice for Fertilia". Practice in which the dynamic parish priest of Orsera Don Dapiran, delegate of the bishop who, later, would become the first parish priest of Fertilia dei Giuliani, also collaborated with dedication and commitment.

From saying to doing. A second, very interesting article, also from the Arena di Pola, in February 1948, highlighted the costs and the socio-economic consequences of the initiative. The boats ready to leave for Alghero belonged to the fishermen and shipowners from Rovinj, Poreč, the island and Polesine: Presden; Grego, Giorico, Bacchetti, Velcich, and Utmar. With a paltry government subsidy of just twenty million lire, the nets had been purchased. Some government officials, then, through the Prefecture of Sassari, had carried out inspections in Sardinia to verify the abundance of fish, habitability and possibility of marketing. The fishing activity had to be carried out using the main means known as “saccaleva”, “coccia”, “parangal” and “crudo”. The concern, however, was in the marketing of the fish. : It is very interesting to know that a special vessel, owned by the Rocco family, equipped with a special refrigerator and adequate storage, would have had the task of carrying the goods to Civitavecchia, Livorno and Genoa. The Giuliani Fishermen's Union for its part would have carried out experiments for canning equipment and for the installation of a large refrigerator between Olbia and Fertilia and a large fishing center in Olbia. With reference to fishing, the importance of activities ancillary to lobsters and the experimentation of tuna fishing was reiterated. At the time, the real great concern consisted in accommodating such a significant amount of fish. A concern that was soon resolved by the proximity of the village to Sassari, Alghero and the major communication routes. At the time, there was a productive force of 170 people in Fertilia for whom the Pontifical Assistance Commission had assured beds, blankets and food for the entire period of settling in, with the prefect of Sassari flying to Rome to obtain new funds for the necessary accommodation. The project, in fact, in a short time, would have established a further allocation of the fishermen's families which, in a few months, would have brought Fertilia to 500 souls, those who would have constituted the first productive nucleus of the Julian center in Sardinia.

Gianraimondo Farina – 31/10/2021
Source: All in parity